Is this what love is? Something that makes you feel happy, scared, excited and so many other things at once? Something that feels as though it slows down your heart while simultaneously speeding it up, and that bends the rules of time, freezing a moment in time forever? Shinji Ikina wasn’t quite sure what to think, as he sat at the foot of his bed, staring at the picture in his hand. He had been looking at it for hours, trying to figure out what it was about the person on it that made him feel this way. Nowaki Iwahashi was a handsome man to be sure, his strong chin, well defined cheek bones and his beautiful mid length blue hair that fell just below his sky blue eyes which were hidden behind a pair of glasses could definitely be seen as attractive. His strong hand was resting on his chin and cheek and he was smiling at the camera, teasing Shinji with his eyes.

Shinji wanted to find out what exactly it was about him that made his heart flutter and his body feel as though it was on fire at his touch, what about this sweet man was making him lose sleep when he wasn’t around. He stood up briefly and wiped the long blond hair from his eyes with one of his slender hands, his face been softer and a little rounder, emerald green eyes situated in the middle below thin eyebrows with lips with the barest hint of pout. He smiled at himself in the mirror and tried to figure out why Nowaki liked him, or if he even did. He hoped that Nowaki returned the feelings in the same way that he did, and he thought that it was possible, as he had told him so the last time they were together. Maybe that was it.

Aishiteiru. I love you. The word was racing through his head, the only thing he could focus on. He could hear Nowaki’s voice saying it over and over again and it made him weak in the knees. He looked into the mirror once more and realised he was blushing a deep crimson as he reflected on this…


A smile crept across Hisaki’s lips as he looked over his writing, the pen briefly sitting between his teeth. He sat at the end of the docks leading out to the sea and thought of the romantic scene in front of him. He loved the sea, there was nothing that could possibly get his creative juices flowing like sitting by the water and listening to the waves crashing, the sounds of the birds overhead, and feeling the misty sea air against his face. He just loved everything about it. His writing was flowing nicely, but he knew that it was almost time to stop writing and start getting ready to train someone instead. There was a young boy in the village who Hisaki had been somewhat impressed by, wanting to mentor him and teach him the ways of the shinobi. It was in Hisaki’s nature to be a caring person, but also to help those who needed it, and that translated well into training and being a teacher for young genin. He always looked forward to seeing the excitement in people’s eyes when he was getting ready to work with them.

Hisaki Hyuga’s eyes moved away from the sea and scanned the area around him to see if he could spot the young boy. He saw a few people milling about, mostly workers at the docks loading cargo and preparing ships for departure to their greatest trade partners, the village of Kirigakure no Kato. The workers were strong men and women who had been on many journeys across the seas and were the best at what they did. They were people who loved what they did, and Hisaki could understand why. He would love to work on the water, sailing the seas all the time, going from port to port and constantly being surrounded by water. He felt the same way they did about his job, which currently was to train the future shinobi of the village. He stood up and took up a horse stance, fists at his sides before throwing a strike forward. It certainly wouldn’t help him to get some extra training in himself...

(738 words)

Meeting at the Port, this was new. Not many of the adults came here anymore, not unless it was for a mission or to catch a boat to Kirigakure, anyway. He was pretty sure of his way around, Da' brought him down here often as a kid to show them the sea, and Dad had taken them here to watch the big merchant ships come into port when he was itty bitty; he still remembered sitting on Dad's shoulders and watching through his golden hair as the brightly dyed sails weaved into view across the horizon line. Good time, good times. Maybe one day he'd come down here again and just watch the ships; he was in no shape to work the kind of missions that would send him down this way, so that was out. A festival would give him an excuse one day, maybe. Still, that was another time, and another place; what mattered now was the present, or the immediate future anyway. Meeting a new sensei, or possible sensei anyway. He'd trained with Da' for so long that he couldn't remember ever training with anyone else 'cept for maybe Auntie or Uncle once or twice; he just didn't fit well into their style of training, so he stuck with Da'. Dad seemed to want to change that now that he was home; there was this sense of 'it's time to for little Hiro' to not be so little', and have him expand on his physicality. Which, coming from Kenta, was saying something.

But why go outside of the family to do it?

Maybe he didn't trust anyone else to do it.

Maybe he just knew that none of the family would do what was needed with 'sweet little Hiro' '. It needed to be someone divorced from the affections and handicaps that the family gave him; someone that would take him for what he was and work with it, not what they wanted him to be. Or, he could just be overthinking it, and this wouldn't go anywhere. Not many handled his voluntary mutism well, and ever fewer could handle him speaking within their minds without freaking out and running for the hills. Sadness. It left him a little isolated, yes; but he was happy enough that way, so he didn't complain, nor see a reason to change. Not yet, at least.

Given how few ninja where around, finding his possible teacher was simple enough. While he might not be very physical, his father's, Auntie, and Uncle where, so he recognized taijutsu stances when he saw them. As it was, he approached the elder male in his usual silent fashion, moving like a ghost across the docks and leaving few believing he'd ever been there. He was hiding himself in a way, by withdrawing his presence from the senses and the minds of those around, he sort of erased his existence from them. It meant that after he passed, their minds would 'delete' him from memory, so that he was as good as never there. His Da' was a master at this skill, but he was only a novice; an experience novice, but a novice non-the-less; so for him it only worked on civilians and those with weaker minds. The elder would notice him, and at the same time Hiroyuki wasn't attempting to hide from him. Upon physically approaching him, Hiroyuki was able to force his voice into working, releasing a gentle, but audible, coughing noise; one of those signs that was universal and known as attempt to gather attention from someone. He wasn't quite able to speak just yet, it took a lot to get his voice to appear, so it would take him just a little bit. He hoped the little noise was enough, if not he'd need to risk a telepathic exchange, and that... would not likely end well, at least in his experience.

WC: 665

Focus on your breathing Hisaki. It was like his father was right beside him when he heard his voice in his head, like he always did when he was training. Being a Hyuga you were trained on the compound and learned from your family, as there were many things as a Hyuga that others simply couldn’t teach you. He went through his stances, keeping his breathing steady as he did so. Breath in, tiger stance, breath out. Breath in, Crane stance, breath out. Breath in, Gentle Fist stance, breath out. He worked on the strikes of the gentle fist style, having long had them committed to memory, but still always finding it worth it to slowly work through them as he did his regular exercises and stretches. He kept his focus on what he was doing while also looking towards the entrance of the dock, knowing that the boy he was supposed to meet would be here soon. It was interesting that he would be training someone related to the Hokage, and he greatly looked forward to it. He was impressed that it took him so long to notice the boy, realizing that nobody else had seemed to notice him either.

By the time he coughed Hisaki had already become aware that he was there, he smiled softly, breathing in, returning to his horse stance, breathing out and standing normally once more. He was fairly small looking, though most kids were, so that didn’t really mean much. His blonde hair was quite lovely and the red marks of the Inuzuka clan sat below his eyes. Hisaki was looking around to see if he had an animal companion, and was intrigued to see that he had come alone. Most of the people of his clan always had their companion with them, so it was certainly interesting indeed to see him travelling without his. Hisaki spoke in his gentle voice, not trying to show hints of the anxiety that often plagued him.

“Hello Hiroyuki, I’m Hisaki Hyuga. I’ve been asked to train you a little.” He smiled once more and bowed low, before straightening himself up once more. He could feel the wind coming off the lake still, the cool breeze very relaxing and keeping Hisaki very calm. He had partly chosen this place because he enjoyed being here, but also partly chose it because it made his anxiety much less taxing on him. He looked the boy over once more and brought one of his hands up to gently stroke his own chin, trying to figure out what he should do with him. He didn’t know much about him, except that he, like Hisaki himself, had only ever trained with his own family. It was something that made him feel honored that he had been asked to train the boy, but also made it a little difficult to gage what he would need to do in order to train him. He didn’t spoke for a minute, waited to see if the boy would answer him, and then he continued on.

“I unfortunately don’t know much about you besides maybe your name, I was hoping that maybe you could help me to understand what kind of training you have, or maybe what you are hoping to learn from me? Or if you have any questions for me I can also answer those for you.” He stopped stroking his chin and instead placed his hands behind his back, biting his bottom lip slightly before releasing it and gripping his left hand in his right. He hoped that what he had to teach would be useful, or at least that the two of them could get to know one another a little bit better so that he could assess what exactly it was that he could teach the boy...

(1382 words)

“I unfortunately don’t know much about you besides maybe your name, I was hoping that maybe you could help me to understand what kind of training you have, or maybe what you are hoping to learn from me? Or if you have any questions for me I can also answer those for you.”

The boy could have cried, questions this quickly; simple ones, but questions still that required solid answers. This was going to be... interesting. Had he labored under any notion that the elder could understand canine, he would happily launch into that, but the common human tongues just made him hate that he was human sometimes. He just couldn't bring himself to speak many words, even with his expansive vocabulary. Something about his voice made him anxious and nervous, like that by speaking he was going to cause pain and devastation with it. Just... yaaaay. Golden hair swayed and ruffled in the salted air, causing the hints of wildness inherited from his Inuzuka bloodline to enhance and make him seem even more like his father than normal. If not for the green of his eyes, he'd be like a deflated clone of Kenta; but the green, that was entirely Michizuka, as was the slightly softer angles to his features, the hint of almond in his eyes.

He swallowed heavily, shifting into a stance that betrayed his uncomfortable emotional position at the moment; it was a type of uncomfortable that was easily read, he was fine in the situation, but something was bothering him, and he was having trouble conveying that trouble to anyone else. "I... I..." Even that sounded rusty, and so very soft that it would be hard to heard over the lapping waves under the docks. He realized that he physically couldn't speak at the moment, his throat was locking up even trying. Well, this was just lovely. If he wanted to even attempt to answer, he was going to have to answer mentally. Rubbing at his now painful throat, he tried for a tentative, "I... was taught Genjutsu by my Father, and Ninjutsu by my other Father..." He was more worried about the reaction to his telepathy than anyone reacting to him having two fathers; it wasn't that uncommon in the village, although the exact meaning behind him having two dads was. He was chewing on his own lip now, an almost pleading look in his emerald eyes as he waited to see if Hisaki would flee for the hills like so many others had before him.

WC: 431

1096 total

Hisaki could see the struggle on the boys face when asked his questions. He understood that pain, as when he was a teenager he dreaded nothing more than speaking to people as well. What was more interesting, however, was how Hiroyuki got around this problem. Hisaki heard his voice in his head as clearly as day. He took a second and just looked at the boy, not looking surprised, just curious. He eventually just smiled and said "Those are both good things to know. And that is an interesting skill you have, I'm very impressed. As for your dads," he chuckled softly, all of a sudden jealous of Kenta for finding a guy to share his life with when he himself was having no luck in that department, instead finding his dream men in the stories he wrote. "They sound like pretty good guys." Hisaki had no real experience with Genjutsu, but he had trained many people who had used Ninjutsu before. He also was often not affected by people's genjutsu techniques, as his Byakugan was able to detect if he was in them. He was curious to see what kind of training this boy had, and if he knew anything about combat.

"Do you have any questions for me? Or anything specifically you want to work on?" His smile consisted, trying to make sure that Hiroyuki continued to feel confortable with him. He knew that it was going to be difficult getting him to be truly comfortable, since Hisaki had been a lot like him when he was younger, and he was prepared to put in whatever extra time and effort he had to. He looked around and noticed that the workers had finished loading the cargo onto the ships and were starting to get on board. It made him wish he could be out at sea every day like them, but he also remembered just how happy he was with what he did for the village, and he was helping ensure that the future of the village was secure.

(1725)

Those are both good things to know. And that is an interesting skill you have, I'm very impressed. As for your dads," ... They sound like pretty good guys." ... "Do you have any questions for me? Or anything specifically you want to work on? "

Oh thank all the Gods, he didn't instantly flee or attack him. That'd happened more times than he could count, adults twice or more his age acting like scared children whenever he used his telepathy. The skill was harmless to them; he wasn't skilled enough to use it to read thoughts or memories actively, only the strongest of surface emotions where open to him, but anyone with a sharp eye and/or nose could figure those out just as easily. This non-running, the treating of the discovery of his telepathic skills as totally normal... it seemed to pull the boy instantly from his shell. His face perked, a small smile appearing and his emerald eyes lighting up like the most brilliant of gems. His posture straightened, seeming to add nearly an inch to his height; the air of 'I am not here, ignore me, I don't exist' vanishing instantly. It was like he suddenly properly was there, not hiding far out of sight where no one could interact with him, where he didn't have to worry about the things people thought or assumed or the expectations they had.

"I don't know. Da' just wants me to train differently. He thinks I'm stunting myself by only training with him... But I don't see how. He's Kamizuki, the clan head. He's so strong, and I take after him, not Dad. My sisters, Temaki and Yuki, they're like Daddy. They're perfect Inuzuka, I'm not. I'm not a physical fighter, not like him. I'm all Genjutsu skills, I'm more like my cousins than my sisters. I... I can't even find a partner, not really. Inuzuka, we bond with our partners young, but I never did. I can use Dad's dogs, or Sister's; I'm good with Aki and Blast and Star, but they're not mine, not really. I have the mark of an Inuzuka but I don't feel like one..." Which he fully understood that as a Hyuuga, Hisaki couldn't help... but he couldn't help but just babble these thoughts out like a torrent at that moment; that feeling of 'oh, he's not running... I can exist and not feel bad about it' had just blasted his mental varriers out of the water and left him in the position that many young Kamizuki children found. The drawback of the telepathic communication was that it came with no filters, it was absolute truth in real time, usually complete with an emotional soundtrack to make it even more of a punch in the gut when the one projecting was in the kind of mindset Hiroyuki was. I wouldn't even know how normal ninja train, honestly. I've never really done the normal ninja anything; we only did academic classes at the academy, my sister's and I; otherwise Da' trained us in everything else. When your Dad is Hokage, security becomes a problem..."

WC: 553

1649 Total.

Well Hisaki had opened the floodgates, which was the intended effect of his conversation with the shy boy in front of him. He had worked through a similar situation when he was a younger shinobi, as he had to get over his crippling anxiety in order to be able to do anything at all, and therefore he was prepared to be very patient with the boy. He didn't expect to break through his defenses so quickly however, and it made him smile when he started to hear the voice flood into his head. As he watched the young boy cheer up while he was speaking to him, Hisaki couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. He spoke about how it was difficult being the son of the Hokage, something that Hisaki could imagine as it seemed like it would be difficult to stand in his shadow. He said he wanted him to train different, which he wasn't overly sure what he meant by that. If he wasn't a physical fighter it wasn't something that Hisaki could push him with too much, as Hisaki noticed that he was small and if he didn't know how to fight physically Hisaki could potentially hurt the young boy. He was a little bit sad to hear about the fact that as an Inuzuka he also hadn't found a partner animal, which was something that their clan seemed to pride themselves on.

The boy still looked happy, though, which made Hisaki smile as he considered the ways that he could potentially train the boy. His gift was very unique, such a powerful mind could certainly be useful with genjutsu, which was something Hisaki didn't particularly know much about. He knew how to spot a genjutsu using the sight of his Byakugan, which was something that his father had taught him when he was a boy. The handy thing about being able to see chakra points was the fact that you could tell if something was fake or not. He hadn't mastered this yet however, but it was something he was working on. If this kid knew how to use Genjutsu perhaps he could help Hisaki out in a way. He wasn't sure that diving right into that kind of stuff was a good way to start their training however.

"I can imagine that having your father being the hokage would keep your security high. Fear not though, I won't harm you, and I'll keep you safe. Kenta trusted me with you and I won't let him down." He smiled once again, patting Hiro on the head and hoping that it wasn't something that would freak him out too much, some people really hated being touched and if he was being honest, Hisaki himself was one of them. "I won't fight you if you have no background in fighting. I don't want to hurt anyone, but hopefully I can help you get a little more adept in physical combat. It is important to be able to defend yourself, for while your father's or myself will do what we can for you, we won't always be able to be there to protect you. I want to make sure that you will be able to protect yourself, which is probably why I was asked to help you. My clan is famous for its Taijutsu, so I guess I could show you a few things with that. I also certainly want to get to know you better before I start getting you to hit the pell though, so what else can you tell me about yourself?"

(2341)

Really, if he'd had a tail, it would be furiously wagging at that moment. It'd been so long since he'd met an adult that wasn't family that didn't think him strange or weird or dangerous; so he was just sort of basking in the idea of being, well, sort of normal for once. Still, something nagged at him, a misconception that many had about growing up the child of a Kage. Or rather, the child of Kenta.

"I can imagine that having your father being the hokage would keep your security high. Fear not though, I won't harm you, and I'll keep you safe. Kenta trusted me with you and I won't let him down."

"It's not that bad, Sensei. Dad was always there for us... until he wasn't." For a split second an icy sadness shot over the boy's face, and tinted his mental words in pain and sadness; but it passed quickly enough. It was a sore spot, the knowledge that his father had left for so long; but it was that kind of sadness that only a child could know; one that was emotional in all aspects but never fully faded outside of the healing balm of time. He understood, he really did; but that didn't stop it from hurting. "Now that he's back, he's always with us again. It's wonderful, really. Da has class all day, but we've never been big on... well, rules. Aunti and uncle taught us how to get everywhere young, and Da' never told us not to appear when we wanted to. We grew up sneaking into meetings with Dad and Da', and watching Uncle light people he didn't like on fire..."

To the rest, the boy's expression turned pensive; he 'knew' what Michizuka had been thinking when the conversation was had; he 'knew' what Kenta was thinking as well; that mental bond, and they being his parents, even his nauseant mind reading skills where enough to figure out what the lines beneath the words actually where. To a degree. He knew there was more going on, but as to what that was, he didn't know. What he didn't understand himself, was why? He could get everything within the family, especially with the addition of Satoshi to the pack; his father's new best friend (which ticked Uncle off to no end, but then again so did Dad's reslationship with Uncle sometimes, it made Da' jealous for irrational reasons that Hiroyuki didn't yet understand), was so very different from the rest of them, even with the similarities in fighting style that he and Dad shared. Still... to send the Hokage's son to a stranger, even one from one of the eldest Noble clans of the village... it was strange, yes. But he wasn't against it, and he already liked the elder male. The sense of warmth that Hisaki gave him... the boy really enjoyed it. He could see himself basking in it happily, if allowed, for hours and hours and months and years until he was ready, if ever, to be a sensei to someone else. Maybe.

"They want me to gain experience... to become comfortable outside of my family. That's.. what I got from them when I was listening in to their conversation." He sort of chewed his lip in that 'I know I did wrong' way, trying to offer a small smirk of a smile that he'd seen his sister do when she got caught doing something wrong and was trying to not get yelled at. He wasn't all that great at little visual quirks and such like that; he lived too much in the mind to remember his body existed some of the time. "I know how to fight, Da' showed me how, and Dad is big on survival training. I'm small, but I'm crazy fast and I can dodge like a boss; as Uncle puts it. Da said you know how to use Fuuinjutsu too... I kinda read up on that myself... I wanna try it out someday; but I haven't had any luck with anything beyond the simplest seals... Things like basic item storage and whatnot..."

WC: 728

2377 Total

The young boy told Hisaki a bit more about what he had been going through, making Hisaki smile as he listened to everything he had to say. The voice in his head was actually kind of nice once he had gotten used to it, the feeling not nearly as shocking as it was at first. He told Hisaki about how his fathers had trained him and his siblings, and the other members of the family as well. Apparently they were extremely close and did pretty much everything together, which was something he knew a thing or two about as his father had also personally trained Hisaki, though there were times where he wished that he hadn't been so sheltered as a kid. It hadn't helped him with his self esteem issues or with his anxiety, but he had found ways of coping with those things that seemed to work for him. He was currently a functioning trainer of genin and someone who was looked upon with respect in the village by a lot of other people, so that was certainly worth something.

As he looked towards the young Inuzuka he thought of himself, remembering back when he had first found someone to open up too, that person having been a previous Hokage who was dating his cousin, Kimaru. That man had taught him about the village and its values, teaching him of the will of fire and how the members of the Village Hidden in the Leaves were people who had that Wil of Fire inherently embedded in them when they were born, and to go against that was impossible for any true shinobi of the leaf. It had given him a sense of community and purpose, and had made him feel closer to the rest of the people in their village. The only problem that he ended up having to deal with after was that the man had been assumed dead after not coming back from an ANBU related mission. He eventually made his return to the village, but it bothered Hisaki a little bit when it was revealed that he had left the village. He was eventually cleared of all of his crimes, and even became the Seventeenth Hokage, which made Hisaki a little bit happier, as he had proven that this will of fire of which he spoke was still alive in him, but shortly after passing the hat on he vanished again and for the past three years had been considered dead. Hisaki didn't know if he really was dead, but he kind of hoped that he was, as awful as that sounded...

He tried to stop thinking of that situation, leaving the image of the Sword Saint of Konoha in the back of his mind as he listened to Hiroyuki tell him what he was hoping to learn from Hisaki. It was a case of his family wanting him to get a little different experience, which did make Hisaki quite proud as it meant that Kenta trusted him greatly, which he realised was a huge position to be in. He listened to the boy tell him that he wanted to learn about Fuuinjutsu, which was something that Hisaki perked up as he heard.

FINALLY!

He had been waiting for Hiro to ask him for something that he actually knew something about, and this was it, something that Hisaki was actually somewhat of an expert on. It wasn't overly common for a Hyuga to take interest in Fuuinjutsu, more of them going the Medical route instead, but he was a rare case who had seen that if you can seal off the tenketsu using fuuinjutsu, you can control your opponent in a much more remote way than the more direct route of Gentle Fist. He was excited that the boy had brought up his favourite thing in sealing, and his grin grew even wider.

"You know, that's something I'm pretty good at actually. I'm one of a rare few Hyuga who persued the act of sealing, but I believe it has payed off for me greatly." He formed a half hand sign and pulled a kunai out of the air from where it had been sealed. He then quickly made it disappear again with the same sign and looked towards the young boy once more. "I would be more than happy to teach you how to use Fuuinjutsu, it'll be something a little different for me as most people come to me to learn about Taijutsu, and I certainly never back down from a challenge."

3110

"You know, that's something I'm pretty good at actually. I'm one of a rare few Hyuga who persued the act of sealing, but I believe it has payed off for me greatly." ... "I would be more than happy to teach you how to use Fuuinjutsu, it'll be something a little different for me as most people come to me to learn about Taijutsu, and I certainly never back down from a challenge."

Well... he wasn't against learning taijutsu, but he just really wasn't all that cut out for it. Maybe he'd pick up a weapon eventually; but until he broke past this physical wall he was in... Well, it was just something he had to wait out; puberty was being weird in him; in that he was 'developing', mentally anyway; and according to Auntie he was totally fine in other aspects; but his body wasn't really... growing. His voice hadn't really cracked, he didn't have much going by way of development in most areas; but where he did was right on track it seemed. Another in a long line of weirdness that he was the center of. Oh well.

"Thank you, Sensei!" It was easy for him to just skip over his own thoughts, so after a moment of his brain slipping into melancholy over his physical uselessness, he was right back into happy mode over Hisaki agreeing to help teach him. He loved having a proper teacher for things; self-study was awesome and he was great at it, but having something that actually knew what they where doing... especially one that made him feel just so damn good... yeah, he was happy about this. For a moment he wondered about the strange sensation of... sadness? Happy? It was so complex and strange and he didn't know what to make of it; he didn't know the older male well enough to decipher it properly, and he didn't want to ask about it; prying wasn't something he did if he could help it, and he didn't want to alienate the male before they'd had time to really get to know each other.

The demonstration of the basic seal and unseal was met with absolute focus, the kind only seen on scholars and students that actually enjoyed learning, and learning properly. Again, if he had a tail, it would be wagging furiously just over this small demonstration; it was within his ability to do even now; but that didn't mean that he thought himself above learning more from a proper teacher. Everyone had their own quirks and such about how they did things, that his Sensei could use a single-handed sign for the jutsu was amazing to the boy; he still needed to have the scroll open and both hands placed upon the seal itself to use it, so to see someone with true experience and knowledge do it so effortlessly... yesplease. More please. Teach me Senpai!

WC: 508

2885 total.

On the outside she was a calm and confident female: sketchbook in hand and pencil flying over the page as she attempted to catch everything and anything her eye could see and sketch it out quickly but as perfectly as possible as she made her way down the dock. Even with the random stares brought on by her physical appearance - pink hair, gold colored eyes, large bust - she didn’t lose a beat in her confident step.

On the inside, though? She was a total different story.

Mentally she was not okay. She was broken, she had been for a long time and this was nothing new. But the stress and anxiety she was giving off in waves? That… was quite new, for her at least. Kenta, weeks prior, had made her an official member of the village, down to the shiny new Konoha headband that was currently wrapped around her robe like a belt to keep it (mostly) shut. She had settled in nicely with living with Aunt Amaya and had even begun to adjust to her new situation. Perhaps… a little too well? Or so she figured considering the handwritten note from Kenta stating she was to be joining a squad - one based outside of the family.

This is not okay. By any means… not okay… Or so she had thought half a dozen times, keeping her lips tightly sealed so that she didn’t utter the words out loud: she didn’t need any more stares than what she was already getting after all. Still, there was no turning back. Or… well, she probably could. She was pretty sure if she told Kenta she didn’t think she was ready for this he would understand… but, she was also stubborn. Scared, but so very stubborn. Enough to have her continuing to put one foot in front of the other and carry on toward where she had been told she could find the sensei listed in the note.

Surprisingly enough, after a few more dozen feet, she found an odd sight that actually gave her pause: her cousin Hiroyuki and someone else who she didn’t recognize who seemed to be showing him something. Hiro, in typical fashion, seemed to be delighted to be learning and absorbing the information like some kind of learning sponge.

Interesting…

Aisling finished her approach but came up short nearby; a good three feet or so away; her way of being there and yet not barging in like some overly hyper and excited Genin. Instead, she kept her sketchbook balanced on her left arm while her pencil remained busy in her right hand; zooming over the page rapidly as she continued to draw out what was around her. But, this by no means meant she wasn’t paying attention - she was. She just happened to be good at multi-tasking. In fact, the act of sketching and drawing in and of itself tended to keep Aisling in a place of calm serenity which helped her focus all that much more.

Wordcount: 511

Hisaki could feel Hiroyuki's excitement, and it made him extremely happy. It was a simple technique but he seemed to be extremely excited about learning about Fuuinjutsu, and that was something that made Hisaki quite happy as he was often not able to teach people it. It was one of his hobbies that had turned into a battle proficency, and he was extremely proud of that, and he looked forward to being able to share it with other people as well. There was something about Hiro's energy and his happiness that Hisaki found somewhat infectious, and he knew that he wanted to protect this sunshine child with all of his being. It was funny how that worked out sometimes, as he had never met the boy before today, but he really wanted to be there for him and keep making him smile. Something about that kid's smile...

Hisaki felt another presence approaching them. He turned his head towards the girl who was walking towards the two of them and watched her approach. He was assuming that this was the second person whom the Hokage had mentioned in his letter, saying that the girl was a special case, kind of like Hiro, and that he had trusted in Hisaki to be able to take care of the two of them and help them with their blocks. He had been through a lot as a child and had dealt with crippling social anxiety because of it, and because of coming through that he was a great person to help out people with similar issues. He smiled warmly towards the girl, noting that she seemed to be sketching something, but not wanting to necessarily disturb her. He would speak to her, however, as he wanted to be able to work with both of them. Now that she was here they could begin working towards more of the meat and potatoes of their training. He also noticed that as she approached, Hiroyuki seemed to become even more excited. Hisaki noted this as he spoke.

"Hello there, I'm Hisaki. I'm guessing you're Aisling? Kenta-dono told me to expect you, so we've been waiting." He smiled warmly towards her, putting a hand on Hiroyuki's shoulder as he did. He was looking forward to seeing how these two would work together, and what kind of things Hisaki could teach the two very different shinobi...

3516

Quickest way to instantly grab his attention? Simple. Have family appear nearby. He was literally instantly drawn to it, or rather, part of his mind was. He was far to interested and fixated on the elder male to turn away or anything, at least until he began to speak again and the trace broke. Shaking his head much like a puppy with water in his ears, the young blond turned around himself in that overly excited puppy way and about exploded for joy when he saw Aisling properly. She was his favorite Cousin after all, and he was always all for spending time with her whenever he could. With her living with them now? Hell yeah, instantly ecstatic Hiroyuki. He damn near raced over to her, he was always interested in what she was drawing at any given time, but he had some sense of manners and the like, so he managed to keep himself from racing off toward her, instead remaining near his Sensei like he was supposed to. He hadn't known that Dad had assigned her to this new little squad; he must have done it right before he left, or after Hiroyuki had gotten enough of eavesdropping on his parents. Either way, finding out that Cousin would be his squad mate? Yay!

'Cousin! Sensei is awesome!" You'd swear he was 5, not pushing 16 by the way he was acting; but this was fairly normal for him around family. Strangers? Quiet, demure, as close to not there as possible. Family? Bouncing ball of sunshine goodness. Which contrasted against Aisling's intensely... quiet; not calm, he knew better, but she was very quiet; was jarring and a seriously good example of the juxtapositions that existed within Kenta's pack. "Cousin, Sensei is a sealer! I can finally learn how to use Fuuinjutsu right!" He was mentally babbling at her; not even trying to hold a coherent thought; she was used to how his brain did that, so it wouldn't be too overwhelming unless he really let loose a torrent of insanity. "He can seal one handed too. I can't even do it without a paper seal yet.' Like a child, this one was. He was about to go on even more random tangents when he remembered where he was and snapped his attention back to the elder male, looking for a moment like a brilliantly red tomato child, the color fading back to his normal still rather pale tan rather quickly. "Sorry... carried away. Happens, when you're a telepath."

WC: 434

3319 Total.